United States: The Hollywood actors’ union has agreed on a tentative deal with major studios to end a months-long strike. The strike had stopped the production of hundreds of films and television shows.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) announced that its strike would end at midnight after negotiators reached a preliminary deal on a new contract.
The union noted that the new three-year contract was valued at more than $1 billion and included increases in minimum salaries as well as a new “streaming participation”. According to the statement, the agreement would further allow members “to build sustainable careers.”
The group’s national board will consider the agreement, and the union remarked that it would release further details after the meeting.
“We did it,” SAG-AFTRA President Ms. Fran Drescher wrote on Instagram, thanking members for their hard work. “The Billion+ Deal! 3X the last contract! New ground was broken everywhere,” Ms. Drescher added.
Members of SAG-AFTRA began their protest in mid-July, demanding an increase in minimum salaries, a share of streaming service revenue, and protection from being replaced by “digital replicas generated by artificial intelligence (AI).”
The union’s negotiators agreed on a preliminary deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents media companies including Netflix, Paramount, and Walt Disney.
The AMPTM commented that the deal represented “a new paradigm” that gave the union its “biggest contract-on-contract gains” in its history.
Los Angeles Mayor Ms. Karen Bass welcomed the “fair agreement,” and noted that the strikes had impacted “millions” in Los Angeles and throughout the country.
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